1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscopic therapeutic instrument and to an endoscope, and to an endoscopic therapeutic system as well.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, while an operator is treating a required area in the body of a patient or preparing an examination or the like of a living tissue by working from outside the body through an endoscope, the operator at times continuously uses, a plurality of endoscopic therapeutic instruments such as a needle-shaped scalpel, a grasp forceps, etc. In this case, the operator has conventionally performed an operation such as inserting a selected one of the therapeutic instruments into the body through a channel disposed in an inserting section of the endoscope, drawing the therapeutic instrument out of the body after performing a predetermined treatment, and again inserting the same or a different therapeutic instrument into the channel.
When this therapeutic instrument is to be inserted into the channel, the operator must carefully insert a long therapeutic instrument into a narrow channel from a forceps opening of the endoscope and is, therefore, required to perform time-consuming work, with great concentration.
For this reason, an endoscope equipped with an inserting/removing device which automatically inserts and removes a therapeutic instrument into and from a channel has been proposed, and is disclosed, for example, in FIG. 1 of JP-A-57-117823.